516 



Popular Science Monthly 



A child can have no end of fun with these 

 interlocking animals. The head of one can 

 be exchanged for that of another and the 

 raost outlandish freaks can be formed 



Freaks of Nature — And How to 

 Make Them at Home 



MANY persons have had the opportuni- 

 ty of seeing some of nature's freaks. 

 But few have had the opportunity of mak- 

 ing them! James J. Kennedy, of Brooklyn, 

 New York, has, however, found a way by 

 which they could do even that. With his 

 wooden animals which have interlocking 

 parts, one can take the parts of one animal 

 and jumble them with those of another, 

 and the freaks so formed may be even 

 more outlandish than real ones. 



Each of the animals of a set is cut from 

 wood about an eighth of an inch thick. 

 The animals are further cut up to form 

 several joints which are used to connect 

 their heads, legs, and other members with 

 the animal's body. The sides of these 

 interlocking joints fit closely together, so 

 that the various parts can be held in place 

 securely. 



The joints are all of the same size. Hence 

 it is a simple matter to unloosen some 

 member of one animal and fit it into the 

 body of another. A rooster's head could 

 be placed where a giraffe's ought to be, or 

 a giraffe's could take the place of a bird's! 

 In fact the variety of figures that may be 

 made is limited only by the number of 

 pieces in the set and the child's imagination, 

 as every piece may be made to fit into every 

 other piece. 



Footprints on the Sands of Time? 

 No; Handprints in Concrete 



POETS and philosophers have given 

 plenty of practical suggestions as to 

 how to leave enduring ethical marks; but 

 it remained for a contractor and builder of 

 Los Angeles, Cal., to find a way to make 

 our individual impress in the cement side- 

 walks in front of our homes, so that even 

 the passerby may feel the family spirit of 

 the place. 



While the builder was laying the side- 

 walk in front of his new home, his small 

 son availed himself of the privilege of an 

 only child to get persistently in the way. 

 Several times the trowel smoothed over, 

 little footprints that marred the surface. 

 At last the father thought of a way of 

 taking the child into partnership on the 

 job. He had the boy lay both hands deep 

 down in the drying cement so as to make 

 a well-defined impression, just in the center 

 of the gate-opening. Underneath, the date 

 was printed. Thus a mark was made 

 which has defied time and weather and is 

 full of suggestion to the immediate members 

 of the family. 



The idea which was so casually developed 

 through the presence of a mischievous child, 

 might be applied in other ways which would 

 make it decorative and of value to anyone 

 into whose hands the house might even- 

 tually fall. A fern leaf or other similar 

 object might be embedded in the concrete 

 so that a definite outline would be obtained. 

 On municipal property or in front of public 

 buildings the seal or other emblem of 

 the city might be used. 



I 



The baby hands were presspd deep into the 

 drying concrete and the date printed under- 

 neath to make a distinctive family mark 



